EAGER: A Thermally-Assisted Magnetic Flow-Based Process for the Manufacture of Bulk Metallic Glass Surgical Cutting Edges

该奖项是根据2009年美国复苏和再投资法案（公法111-5）资助的。“拟议的研究旨在开发一种制造工艺，用于制造超锋利的大块金属玻璃手术刀片，作为单晶金刚石刀片的高性能低成本替代品。 这项工作将涉及开发一种新的热辅助磁场为基础的微拉工艺锐化切割边缘的半径为20？50 nm。 这个过程涉及用激光加热切割边缘，以便暂时使其更具延展性，同时施加高强度磁场以拉动加热的材料。 本地化拉丝有望生产出极其锋利和耐用的大块金属玻璃切削刃。这种新型磨锐工艺的成功开发有可能产生极其广泛的影响。 例如，它可以使纳米探针的应用，包括DNA操作和制造的尖锐特征的蘸笔光刻阵列的制造。 对该过程的理解还可以实现衍生过程，例如通过局部加热的微接合和磁场中微部件的变形。 此外，根据拟议的项目，学生将接受培训的范围广泛的主题在迅速崛起的微型制造领域。 公众的教育将通过参加外展活动，如伊利诺伊大学工程开放日计划来解决。

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5)."The proposed research is directed at developing a manufacturing process for making ultra-sharp bulk metallic glass surgical knife blades as a high-performance low-cost alternative to single-crystal diamond blades. The work will involve developing a novel thermally-assisted magnetic field-based micro-drawing process for sharpening cutting edges to a radius of 20 ? 50 nm. This process involves heating a cutting edge with a laser in order to temporary render it more ductile and simultaneously applying a high-intensity magnetic field to pull the heated material. Localized drawing is expected to produce an extremely sharp and durable bulk metallic glass cutting edge.Successful development of the novel sharpening process has the potential to have an extremely broad-based impact. For example, it could enable manufacture of nano-probes for applications including DNA manipulation and manufacture of arrays of sharp features for dip pen lithography. Understanding of the process may also enable derivative processes such as micro joining via localized heating and deformation of micro-parts in a magnetic field. Additionally, under the proposed project, students will receive training on a broad range of topics in the rapidly emerging field of micro-scale manufacturing. Education of the general public will be addressed by participating in outreach activities such as the University of Illinois Engineering Open House program.